12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A woman and literature, both on trial, October 2, 2003
Even though "The Babel Tower" is the third volume in a tetralogy, one need not have read the first two books to enjoy it. (I hadn't read any other novels by Byatt, and I dove right into this one.) This entry has been described as a novel of the Sixties, but such a characterization is misleading. Byatt never really leaves the ivory tower: the turbulence of the streets, the counterculture, the mod scene, the social upheavals all remain on the periphery throughout. The novel depicts more calm than storm, exploring instead the far narrower (but still interesting) milieu of the literati.
Byatt presents two parallel plots. After the death of her sister, Frederica (the subject of all four novels) is trapped in a marriage that quickly seems unsuitable, eventually becomes oppressive, and finally turns violent. Since it's 1964, a divorce is not simply for the asking; after escaping with her son, she finds her suitability as a mother on trial (both literally and figuratively). The scenes describing the spousal abuse are among the most harrowing I've read, even though, compared with similar episodes in other works, the horror is more psychologically distressing than physically violent. Byatt explicitly links Frederica's subsequent emotional and legal ordeal with Lady Chatterley's trial (both of the book and of the character); Frederica represents a late-twentieth-century woman judged by lingering puritanical nineteenth-century standards.
The second story concerns a thematically similar trial: the ban of "Babbeltower," a book recommended to a publisher by Frederica that is subsequently deemed pornographic by the British government. Tame by today's standards (and even when compared to "Last Exit to Brooklyn," which served as Byatt's model), this fable portrays a sexually uninhibited utopia that evolves into a masochistic and totalitarian dystopia. The recently concluded obscenity trial of "Lady Chatterley's Lover" lingers in the background, although the prosecution asserts that "it was Lady Chatterley herself who was on trial, for the fact of her sexuality. In the case of 'Babbeltower' it is the prisoner in the dock who is on trial, his imagination, the world he created, the tendency of the messages he offers."
While "Babel Tower" is often riveting and stimulating, if Byatt herself were on trial, she might be found guilty of excess. Byatt's most obvious mentor is Iris Murdoch, whose influence she confirms in both the text and the acknowledgments. Murdoch, however, doesn't always spell out her many cultural, philosophical, and literary references; she leaves it for the reader to discover or disregard. Byatt, in contrast, seems to believe that her audience is not well-read; she assumes the role of literary critic for her own work. Her characters quote a dizzying parade of passages to each other, to themselves, or to the reader. Sometimes this approach works, but the technique reaches its nadir when she reprints Frederica's scrapbook, a collage of excerpts and scrambled texts(which Frederica herself correctly disparages as unsatisfying and incoherent). There's also a bizarre and not entirely satisfying subplot which evokes Cronenberg's "Dead Ringers" but can't match its creepiness; it involves identical twins, one of whom courts Frederica, while the other is a jealous psychopath.
Despite these excesses, Byatt still succeeds with her portrait of the young woman artist whose confusion is aggravated by clashes between desires and expectations, nonconformity and morality, literature and society.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating, November 29, 1999
Byatt has again challenged her readers. This text is a textured, involving story, picking up where the (I believe) slightly sophomoric "Virgin in the Garden" and "Still Life" left off. While the previous 2 books in the series were entertaining, they did not take the chances that "Babel Tower" did. In "Babel Tower," one gets a sense that Byatt is expanding herself -- her writing and her characterization -- in a similar way that "Posession" did. While "Babel Tower" is certainly not as fine as "Posession," one does get that same feeling of excitement and discovery by reading it. I might caution against the S&M tones of the novel's counterpoint (like "Posession," this text has an accompanying fictional text which drive sthe plot) -- not that it is particularly shocking, but rather that it sort of drifts out at times, not serving the main story as strongly as it might. It needed some further development to be an effective counterpoint, but it does serve adequately. All in all, a great read: it's involving, interesting, and has many layers, each with Byatt's usual attention to gorgeous detail.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It gets better every time!, January 17, 2005
I read and loved The Virgin in the Garden and Still Life and I couldn't wait to read more of Frederica Potter and her eccentric, intellectual family. Babel Tower centers on Frederica's struggles to free herself from her rich, abusive husband. She is now in a custody battle that could well end in disaster. As she regains her independence and begins to work as a teacher in London, Frederica ponders on the reasons she married someone with a different social and intellectual background. There is another legal fight in the story. Jude Mason, a rebellious man who is described as a hippie before his time, is sued for writing an "obscene book." What transpires is a story centered on the laws and prejudices in sixties London.
Babel Tower is my favorite part of this literary series. A.S. Byatt focuses on Frederica and her plights here more than on the previous novels. And the references to art and literature in this offering are especially engaging and insightful. I did miss the other members of the Potter family, but I loved reading about Frederica one more time. This is one beautiful novel and I so look forward to reading The Whistling Woman with utmost anticipation.
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